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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
— Alan Paton
SATURDAY, JULY 12, 2014
VOL. 83 NO.161
Apparent illegal kennel closed By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – An apparent illegal kennel has been disrupted after two puppies were discovered that apparently fell from a second-floor porch. Police responded to an anonymous phone call Tuesday evening from a person who said that there were multiple litters of puppies that had been left alone in the second-floor apartment on Church Street. Officer Michael Csekovsky was the first officer to respond and found two very young puppies outside but got no response at the door of the apartment. At his request, an emergency dispatcher contacted the property owner who said that court proceedings are underway to evict the tenant who had told hm that the puppies would be removed from the apartment. The landlord said that he could not meet the officer at the house and, in order to determine if any animals were at further risk inside, firefighters were asked to gain entry to the apartment. Once firefighters opened the door for police, no resident was found inside but a menagerie of animals was discovered so the city’s animal control officer, Kerri Francis, was asked to also respond. Officer Richard Mazza reports that in addition to the two puppies outside, there was an older litter of pit bull mix puppies, as well as a nursing pit bull bitch, apparently the mother of the two daysold puppies and perhaps also the mother of the older litter which was estimated to be several weeks old. In addition to the dogs, several other animals were discovered including both adult and baby rabbits, birds, a cat and a ferret. Mazza reports that although a relative of the resident was contacted, the resident herself could not be found and he was told that her phone was not working. Francis reports that she removed the eight older pit bull mix puppies, as well as the mother dog and her two days-old pups. In addition, Francis removed four baby rabbits and a adult male rabbit. See Kennel, Page 3
The Chester Theatre Company
Chester Theatre Company will celebrate its 25th Anniversary season with a production of playwright Sharr White’s two-character play, “Annapurna.” (Photo submitted)
Review
‘Annapurna’ in Chester By MARK AUERBACH Correspondent CHESTER – The Chester Theatre Company is celebrating its 25th Anniversary season with a production of up-and-coming playwright Sharr White’s two-character play, “Annapurna”, a sometimes comic drama about former lovers and spouses, whose lives converge after a twenty year absence. For many, a reason to visit Chester will be an opportunity to see former Westfield resident, the actress Michelle Joyner, who is now based in Los Angeles. Sharr White is definitely a young American playwright to watch. His play “The Snow Geese” played on Broadway last season, and his earlier Broadway venture “The Other Place”, has been seen in many regional theatres, including Hartford’s TheaterWorks and Pittsfield’s Barrington Stage Company. Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman starred in “Annapurna” in Los Angeles, and later appeared together in an Off-Broadway production last Spring. Set in a run-down trailer (beautiful-
ly-designed by Vicki Davis) in Colorado, we find Ulysses (Daniel Riordan), a sometimes cowboy, sometimes poet, lounging naked attached to an oxygen tank, amidst clutter. Emma (Michelle Joyner), his ex-wife and mother of his child, arrives unexpectedly. Emma has walked out on her current husband, as she had walked out on Ulysses. Over the course of this tautly written play, we learn why Emma walked out on both, why Ulysses can’t remember the reason for her departure, and watch both of them negotiate difficult truths. Robert Egan’s staging serves playwright White’s script well, and the physical production (costuming by Charles Schoonmaker, lighting by Lara Dubin, and sound by Tom Shread) fill every inch of the very small Chester Town Hall stage. A note to those attending Chester Theatre productions: the auditorium and playing areas are compact, and it feels like a theatre production is being staged in your living room. See Chester Theatre, Page 3
Patrick signs $36B state budget By BOB SALSBERG Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Deval Patrick signed into law Friday the final state budget of his administration, while also asking lawmakers to expand his authority to order spending cuts, if needed, during his last months in office. The $36.5 billion budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 is a continuation, Patrick said, of the administration’s strategy of investing in education, infrastructure upgrades and cuttingedge industries such as life sciences. That has proven to be a successful strategy, as demonstrated by the fact that we have the highest level of employment in Massachusetts in some 25 years, and families are moving into Massachusetts again, instead of out,” the governor said. Patrick vetoed $16 million from the budget, representing
only a tiny fraction of total spending. The governor’s second and final term ends in January. In an unexpected development Friday, Patrick filed a separate bill that would broaden his power to make targeted spending reductions in state government — without legislative approval — through Dec. 31, should the administration deem such cuts necessary. Governors already possess more limited power to reduce spending in certain agencies under their direct control, but such authority is generally only exercised after economic downturns or when tax collections fall well below projections. Patrick said the expanded powers he was seeking would allow the administration to reduce spending in one area so funds could then be reallocated to another area of more urgent need.
“Some may think that governors already have such tools. The truth is they don’t, but should,” he said. Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor later explained the request was not tied to any specific budgetary or revenue concerns. “We’re seeking a modest expansion of some of the authority we have right now to deal with unforeseen developments that are pressing and require a quick response to make room in the budget,” said Shor, who as an example gave the recent sharp hike in heroin overdoses around the state. If approved by lawmakers, the governor’s budget-cutting powers would be broadened to include other entities such as state colleges, district attorneys and certain independent agencies, administration officials said. Patrick said the fiscal 2015
GOVERNOR DEVAL PATRICK budget increases state funding for public schools for an eighth straight year, reduces by 1,700 the wait list for spots in state subsidized prekindergarten programs, and allows for a second straight year without tuition or fee increases for in-state undergraduate See State Budget, Page 3
“The tragedy is not that things are broken. The tragedy is that they are not mended again.”
75 cents
Board approves road project funding By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Board of Public Works voted unanimously Tuesday to approve two change orders for engine4ering work being done in connection with road improvement projects at North Elm Street and the second in neighborhoods off Main Street. The BPW voted 3-0 to approve a change order in the amount of $23,000 for the North Elm Street center turning lanes and drainage improvements being designed by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB) Inc. The additional funding is to prepare documents for a truck exclusion on the lower section of Notre Dame Street which will be submitted to the state Department of Transportation (DOT) for its review and, hopefully, approval of the city’s request to prohibit commercial truck traffic in that neighborhood. The city is also proposing to create a dedicated truck route from North Elm Street to Union Street that will require commercial traffic to go south, across the bridge to Elm Street and make a U-turn in front of Holy Trinity Church, then travel north to access Union Street, a proposal which will also need the DOT’s blessing. Utility Engineer Heather Miller of the city’s Engineering Department presented those change orders to the BPW Tuesday night. Miller said that the $23,000 engineering change order includes a comprehensive traffic study at the North Middle and Southampton Road schools. The additional work is being funded with bond money. “The intersection study at the North Middle School is being done to see if the traffic warrants the installation of a traffic light,” Miller said Friday. “The study will provide information on the overall traffic volume, the timing of that traffic volume and turning movements in and out of the two schools. “It’s a sticky spot because of the curve in the roadway,” Miller said. The board also approved a $36,000 change order for the Old Town Roadway Reconstruction of 2013 which is being performed by Tighe & Bond. That project was broken into two phases, one connected with construction of the proposed Ashley Street School and the other phase associated with construction of the senior center. Those phases have flipped in priority a couple of times due to the status changes of the associated school and senior center construction projects. The city, for the past decade, has selected streets in the downtown to be part of the Old Town Roadway effort. The streets selected typically have poor pavement conditions which triggers the city to look at the infrastructure and see if they need to be upgraded. Key elements this effort addresses are pavement, sidewalks, curbing, drainage, sanitary sewer, and water mains. All of these are looked at and are replaced or refurbished as needed. Miller said the change order is to make the project bid ready, with construction and bid documents prepared to allow the city to proceed with the actual construction, most likely of the phase associated with the senior center. Construction of the senior facility is expected to begin later this month “The design is pretty much done,” Miller said. “The change order is to bring it to bid documents, to bring the (engineering) drawings up to construction documents.” One phase of the work, associated with the elementary school, includes Cross, Ashley, State streets and Taylor Avenue. The other phase of the project encompasses George, Frederick, Noble, East Silver, Exchange, Cycle streets, Cleveland, Parkside, Lozier and Clinton avenues, Old Town Fordway and Lindbergh Boulevard. Miller said the additional work includes assessments of both ends of Lindbergh Boulevard and Noble Street where those streets intersect of Main Street on the north and East Silver Street on the south.
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James R. Adams